Location file · Oxfordshire
Thame
A versatile Causton and village backdrop whose town hall, museum, shops and surrounding estates take many identities.
What it played on screen
From Thame to Midsomer.
A versatile Causton and village backdrop whose town hall, museum, shops and surrounding estates take many identities.
The description above records what the real place supplied on screen. The list gives each linked case and its principal fictional setting; a production may use only one building or street rather than the entire settlement.
Beyond the camera
About the real place
Thame is a historic Oxfordshire market town arranged around a long, broad High Street. Its medieval street plan, town hall, courtyards and mixture of timber-framed, Georgian and Victorian buildings allow a surprisingly small area to play many different screen identities.
The town rewards a visit beyond location spotting. Thame Museum tells the area's story from early settlement onward, while published town trails connect historic buildings and green spaces. The centre remains a working shopping town, so visitors get everyday local life alongside the recognisable views.
Curated archive
Connected cases
The Killings at Badger's Drift
An apparently natural death draws Barnaby into a village of immaculate gardens and very untidy secrets.
Open case →S2 E1 · 1999Death's Shadow
A brutal death interrupts the Barnabys' anniversary plans and reopens a tragedy from three decades earlier.
Open case →S3 E1 · 1999Death of a Stranger
A stranger's death after a fox hunt forces Barnaby to question a close-knit rural circle and a conveniently solved case.
Open case →S6 E2 · 2003Death and Dreams
An elaborate apparent suicide leads Barnaby towards a psychiatric clinic, a marching band and a dangerously closed family world.
Open case →S7 E5 · 2004The Maid in Splendour
Two shootings at a beloved village pub leave Barnaby asking whether the first victim was ever the intended target.
Open case →S8 E1 · 2004Things That Go Bump in the Night
An undertaker is killed in his chapel of rest while a spiritualist church offers the bereaved rather more information than chance should allow.
Open case →S8 E2 · 2004Dead in the Water
The chairman of a rowing club is found dead during the regatta, opening a case of secret meetings, blackmail and a carefully planned robbery.
Open case →S9 E1 · 2005The House in the Woods
A house-hunting couple are found dead beside an isolated cottage, and an unexpected local constable becomes Barnaby's new partner.
Open case →S9 E3 · 2006Vixen's Run
Sir Freddy Butler dies after assembling his wives and heirs, then a missing will and an arson murder turn inheritance into an investigation.
Open case →S10 E6 · 2007Picture of Innocence
A feud between traditional and digital photographers becomes personal when a man is strangled and the evidence points towards Barnaby.
Open case →S10 E8 · 2007Death in a Chocolate Box
The murder of a disgraced former policeman reopens an ugly chapter in Causton's force and a rehabilitation scheme for offenders.
Open case →S11 E1 · 2008Shot at Dawn
A village feud dating from a First World War execution erupts when a retired colonel is abducted for a grotesque mock firing squad.
Open case →S11 E4 · 2008Midsomer Life
A woodland death links a local magazine, a disputed hotel and a community argument about who counts as an outsider.
Open case →S11 E6 · 2008Days of Misrule
A compulsory police team-building exercise collides with an explosion at a haulage yard and a body recovered from a lake.
Open case →S12 E3 · 2009Secrets and Spies
A former agent is killed at a country house for retired spies, reviving a Cold War operation and the legend of a village beast.
Open case →S13 E7 · 2011Not in My Back Yard
A modern house divides a conservation group before accusations of planning corruption are followed by methodical killings.
Open case →S14 E1 · 2011Death in the Slow Lane
John Barnaby's first Causton case links a vintage-car rally with two deaths at an exclusive girls' school.
Open case →S20 E1 · 2019The Ghost of Causton Abbey
A brewery in the ruins of a supposedly cursed abbey produces a body in a vat and a victim with two identities.
Open case →